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About Alabama Marriage Collection, 1800-1969
This database is a collection of Alabama marriage indexes covering various years and counties. A list of counties and the years for which there are records covered in this index is available at the bottom of this page. This collection is comprised of indexes created by several agencies - the Alabama Center for Health Statistics, Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research, and Hunting For Bears.
Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears extracted information from records at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah and/or from records located at county courthouses. The Alabama Center for Health Statistics index was created from actual marriage records and begins in 1936 with the statewide registration of marriages. Information contained in these indexes includes:
* Name of bride and/or groom
* Marriage date
* Marriage county
Important Notes:
* As different agencies that captured different pieces of information created portions or parts of this database, not all of the above listed information may be available for each record.
* The marriage date is usually the date of marriage as given in the original entry. However, when no marriage date is given (e.g., the "marriage return" was not provided to the record keeper), the date of the license is used. In a few cases, a marriage will be listed twice, but in two different counties. This most often happened when a couple obtained a license in one county, but were actually married in another.
* Only records originating from the Alabama Center for Health Statistics have corresponding index images. The list of years in the browse table above does not represent all the years included in this database.
On the images, following the name of the bride or groom, there are generally six (sometimes five) columns containing numbers. These columns are, left to right, County Code, Month, Day, Year, Volume Number, and Certificate Number.
* Sometimes brides and grooms are listed individually in the index rather than together as a married couple in one record. Therefore, if you know the name of either the bride or the groom, but are not sure of the other spouse's name, you may try searching for them by the same marriage date and county that you have for the spouse you do know of. For records with corresponding images, you can then identify the volume and certificate numbers (usually located in the two columns to the far right) to link up spouses, as marriage partners should have the same certificate number.
I Found An Ancestor In This Database….What Now?
Marriage records are great sources for genealogists because they document an individual in a particular place and time as well as provide details about that person's marriage and establish important family relationships.
It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the records that this index references. Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is found in an index. For example, marriage records sometimes provide the birth dates and places of the bride and groom, their parents' names, their addresses, and witnesses' names, in addition to the information listed in this index.
Finding the Original Marriage Record:
Marriage records in this database from the Center for Health Statistics are linked to corresponding images of the index on which the marriage is recorded. Be sure to view these images as additional information, such as a marriage certificate number, may be found there, which may help you in obtaining a copy of the original marriage record. Visit the Alabama Center for Health Statistics website for more information about obtaining copies of marriage records since 1936.
In most cases, the marriage records from Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears can be found in microfilm or book format at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, Liahona Research and Hunting For Bears did not always provide citations on the origin of each entry. However, careful researchers who wish to examine the original source will find sufficient information to lead them to that source. It is up to the researcher to examine and identify the original records. To identify possible sources of these records at the Family History Library, begin by checking the Family History Library Catalog (available online at www.familysearch.org) under the heading "Vital Records" for the appropriate locality. Once a possible microfilm source is identified, you will need to order that microfilm to your local LDS Family History Center (more information about Family History Centers available on www.familysearch.org, under the Library tab) in order to search it. Since marriage licenses are issued by the county, copies of these records may also be obtained by contacting the appropriate county probate office. For pre-1936 marriages the probate court is the first place you should check for marriage information as the state does not maintain any records before this date.
Cautions About this Collection
There are records that may have been overlooked, misspelled, or not available to the researchers. These are not comprehensive indexes to all marriages occurring in Alabama. Therefore, if a marriage is suspected to have occurred, but is not in this collection, further research in additional sources may locate the evidence.
Counties and Years:
The following table is a list of the counties and years included in this database. This database is not comprehensive and does not necessarily include all marriages recorded for the listed years.
County Years Included
Autauga 1830-1868, 1877, 1936-1969
Baldwin 1810-1825, 1845-1889, 1936-1969
Barbour 1843, 1845, 1849-1874, 1892, 1936-1969
Bibb 1818-1860, 1862, 1932, 1936-1969
Blount 1819-1844, 1852-1888, 1932, 1936-1969
Bullock 1867-1868, 1921, 1936-1969
Butler 1853-1870, 1913, 1936-1969
Calhoun 1815, 1833-1868, 1936-1969
Chambers 1824, 1833-1902, 1936-1969
Cherokee 1821-1824, 1826-1837, 1841-1846, 1849, 1861, 1865-1872, 1874-1891, 1895-1898, 1936-1969
Chilton 1933, 1936-1969
Choctaw 1936-1969
Clarke 1812-1891, 1899, 1918, 1920, 1929, 1936-1969
Clay 1872-1886, 1888-1892, 1936-1969
Cleburne 1867-1881, 1936-1969
Coffee 1877-1886, 1888-1901, 1936-1969
Colbert 1870-1872, 1936-1969
Conecuh 1873-1875, 1936-1969
Coosa 1834-1848, 1878-1901, 1936-1969
Covington 1936-1969
Crenshaw 1858, 1867-1872, 1935-1969
Cullman 1807, 1855, 1877-1899, 1936-1969
Dale 1884-1901, 1933, 1936-1969
Dallas 1818-1826, 1835-1839, 1936-1969
DeKalb 1850-1858, 1862-1901, 1936-1969
Elmore 1867-1901, 1920, 1936-1969
Escambia 1860, 1879-1892, 1936-1969
Etowah 1867-1901, 1936-1969
Fayette 1827, 1850-1851, 1858, 1860, 1864-1903, 1906, 1936-1969
Franklin 1823-1825, 1875, 1890-1902, 1936-1969
Geneva 1936-1969
Greene 1822-1860, 1936-1969
Hale 1936-1969
Henry 1821-1864, 1868-1872, 1936-1969
Houston 1936-1969
Jackson 1800, 1833, 1851-1901, 1936-1969
Jefferson 1808, 1815, 1818-1879, 1885, 1898, 1923, 1930, 1936-1969
Lamar 1870-1892, 1936-1969
Lauderdale 1818-1902, 1910, 1923, 1935-1969
Lawrence 1808, 1818-1884, 1888-1889, 1936-1969
Lee 1788, 1797, 1874-1880, 1882-1883, 1886-1907, 1933, 1936-1969
Limestone 1821-1862, 1924, 1936-1969
Lowndes 1830-1880, 1898, 1936-1969
Macon 1834-1878, 1936-1969
Madison 1809-1826, 1828, 1831-1843, 1853-1869, 1871, 1875-1883, 1896, 1936-1969
Marengo 1818-1851, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1936-1969
Marion 1861, 1865, 1886-1901, 1936-1969
Marshall 1836-1840, 1846-1847, 1868, 1936-1969
Mobile 1813-1821, 1823-1825, 1827-1840, 1844, 1846-1849, 1851-1853, 1878, 1924, 1936-1969
Monroe 1825, 1833-1838, 1936-1969
Montgomery 1817-1861, 1869, 1925, 1936-1969
Morgan 1821-1825, 1848-1853, 1856-1862, 1917, 1936-1969
Perry 1818, 1820-1879, 1923, 1927, 1933-1969
Pickens 1822, 1867, 1876-1901, 1936-1969
Pike 1936-1969
Randolph 1888, 1896-1900, 1925, 1936-1969
Russell 1844-1850, 1859, 1936-1969
Shelby 1811, 1818-1827, 1833-1834, 1837-1869, 1876, 1888, 1893, 1898, 1936-1969
St Clair 1819-1826, 1828-1853, 1936-1969
Sumter 1833-1838, 1847-1901, 1936-1969
Talladega 1835-1837, 1840, 1842-1843, 1845-1856, 1862-1864, 1936-1969
Tallapoosa 1834-1845, 1936-1969
Tuscaloosa 1821-1860, 1936-1969
Walker 1797, 1812, 1823, 1829, 1877-1879, 1881-1882, 1884, 1886, 1888-1889, 1936-1969
Washington 1802-1804, 1825-1873, 1889-1896, 1931, 1936-1969
Wilcox 1805, 1820-1825, 1936-1969
Winston 1891-1901, 1936-1969 |
